Wall construction



J. E. BAUER April 26, 1938.

.WALL CONSTRUC'TION 1 Filed June 23, 1936 Patented Apr. 2,6, 1938 2,115,513 WALL CONSTRUCTION John E. Bauer, Muncie, Ind., assignor to Owens- Illinois Glass Company, a corporation of Ohio Application June 23, 12536. Serial No. 86,830

9 Claims. (01. 12-41) The present invention relates to improvements in wall construction and is particularly directed towards the provision of a structure possessing an unusually high degree-of resistance to excessive pressures of every character.

Wall construction of the type present invention is especially concerned consists of courses of individual blocks which arcintended to be bonded together by means of any ordinary good grade of mortar or otherwise.

Outstanding among the objects of my invention is the provision of a bond between the blocks having exceptionally great tensile and shearing 5 changes, and meet the strict specifications of the underwriters for fire testing. Such cushioning additionally functions as a sound deadening medium in that vibrations are not conducted from one bloclr to another in the wall structure to anything like the degree ordinarily experienced.

A further object is to provide a coating for the mortar bearing surfaces of sectional building blocks which will have the characteristic of firmlyuniting with the bonding medium employed in securing the sections of the block together,

Other objects will he iii-part apparent and in v part pointed out hereinafter.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a to wall construction builtup in. accordance with the present invention.

Fig' 2 is a fragmentary detail sectional view showing the joint or bond between the adjacent corners of'four blocks.

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of one of the blocks. While. the present invention is particularly concerned with wall structure consisting of courses of hollow glass blocks, each comprising sections suitably united and having a reduced internal air pressure, it may with equal facility be adopted in the construction of walls formed 1 from other types of blocks or bricks.

In practicing my invention in accordance with 55 I the present disclosure I employ hoilow glass with which the -eilectively bonding with mortar ll.

" erage of 27.2 pounds per. square inch in tensile and blocks 5 each made up of two rectangular cuplike sections 6, the edge portions I of whichmay -.be united by a glass-to glass contact effected while the glass is in a more or less semi-plastic state and quite hot, or by means of a film or sheet 8 of aluminum or some other suitable metal or alloy which is interposed between the edges 1 as a part of the assembly operation. The bottom of each section constitutes a portionof one wall face when the blocks are built up in courses. Because the exterior surface of the blocks is quite smooth, some difliculty would ordinarily be encountered in uniting the blocks in a wall structure which will meet the various requirements of the building codes and withstand necessary pressures, strains and stresses. v

I overcome these di'filculties by creating an effective mortar bearing surface on those areas ordinarily directly contactedby the mortar. To this end a coating 9 or film of ordinary titanic m oxide enamel or some other equivalent oxide, is

applied to these areas, after which the block' is dipped into sand or some other gritty substance which will provide a rough surface it capable of Obviously, methods other than dipping may be resorted to in applying the gritty substance. Because this, particular coating, even after it has dried complete 1y, is yieldable to some extent, it provides a cushion around each block which greatly increases the compressive strength of the wall structure,

increases the resistance of the wall to wind pressure and practically insures against cracking or breaking oi the wall due to ordinary expansion construction incident to temperature changes. Further, such a mortar bearing surface, Q

when used in conjunction with an ordinary good grade oi mortar in assembling blocks of the above character, has shown the exceptionally high avstrength (the resistance to separation of the blocks by any relative movement except sliding in the direction 'of the plane of the surfaces united) as compared with 13.8 pounds per square inch which is required by the ordinary brick code. The shearing strength (the resistance to relative shifting of the blocks-in the direction of the plane of the surfaces united) where this particular bond is empioyed averages approximately 50 82 pounds per square inch, which is far above any heretofore obtained or at the present time oh tainable, with known blocks or bricks and mortar. The compression strength resulting to a consid- 1 erable extent from the employment or this can so ticular mortar bearing surface or film; runs as high as two thousand pounds per square inch.

As a base for and in order to materially strengthen the bond between the glass and coating of titanic oxide enamel and grit, I may resortto the application to the mortar bearing surface, of a thin film or coating of metal such for example as aluminum which will effectively adhere to the glass and bonding strip 8 (Fig. 3)

which likewise may well be formed of metal such for example as aluminum.

Modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

'I claim:

1. A wall structure comprising courses of blocks having glazed surfaces and a bonding medium uniting the blocks and having an average tensile strength of approximately twenty-seven pounds per square inch in the direction of its length and heighth, said bonding medium including titanic oxide enamel and grit.

2. A wall structure comprising courses of blocks having glazed mortar bearing surfaces, and a bonding medium uniting the blocks and having an average shearing strength in the direction of its thickness of approximately eighty-two pounds per square inch, said bonding medium including grit and an adhesive applied to said surface.

3. A wall structure comprising .courses of glass blocks and a yieldable bond including titanic oxide enamel and a gritty material uniting the blocks. a

ing at least a major portion of the mortar hearing surfaces of the blocks and a mortar uniting the coated areas of adjoining portions.

5. A hollow .glass building block formed of cuplike sections, a metallic bond uniting the edge portions of the sections, a rough surfaced coating for the mortar bearing surfaces, said coating having characteristics in common with said metallic bond, and a rough surfaced yieldable film overlying and bonded to said coating.

6. A building block having normally glazed mortarbearing surfaces and a rough surfaced metallic coating applied to at least a portion of said mortar bearing surface and a rough surfaced yieldable film overlying and bonded to said coating.

7. A wall structure comprising courses of blocks having glazed mortar bearing surfaces and means bonding the blocks together including a coating of titanic oxide enamel and grit applied to said surfaces.

8. A hollow glass building block formed of sections bonded together and having mortar bearing surfaces bordering the joint between said sections and a coating of adhesive and gritty material over at least a portion of said surfaces.

9. A hollow glass building block having mortar bearing surfaces, and a coating bonded to said surfaces and consisting of a film of metal having an affinity for and in part penetrating the glass,

' an oxide enamel adhering to the metal and a 

